The German electoral system” “

Germany is a federal state endowed with a two-chamber system: the Federal Diet (Bundestag) and the Federal Council (Bundesrat). Elections to the Bundestag will be held on 22 September. For the next legislature, the fifteenth, 598 members of the Bundestag will be elected by direct universal suffrage, on the basis of a proportional electoral system […]

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Germany" "

A vademecum for electors ” “

In view of the elections to the Bundestag, the federal Diet (cf. SirEuropa no.30 of 1st August 2002), the German Episcopal Conference (Dbk) issued two documents on 4 September: the declaration of German bishops on the occasion of the elections of 22 September and an appeal to the faithful, read out during all celebrations on […]

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France" "

The Mediterranean for peace ” “

“A year after 11 September”. That’s the title adopted by the French bishops for a statement released yesterday, a year after the terrorist attacks on the USA to reiterate their “unconditional condemnation of every form of terrorism”. The text, signed by Archbishop Jean-Pierre Ricard of Bordeaux and president of the French Episcopal Conference, also denounces […]

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Russia" "

"A railway station is my ” “Curia"” “

After the Milanese Father Stefano Caprio (11 April), the bishop of Polish origin Jerzy Mazur (19 April) and the Czech priest Stanislaw Krainac (10 August), two other Polish priests, Edward Maskiewicz and Jaroslav Wisnieswski, have been stopped at the Russian frontier and prevented from re-entering the country in recent days. So the list of the […]

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France: solidarity that "fortifies"” “

20 dead, 12 missing, thousands homeless: that’s the toll of 36 hours of torrential rain and floods in the south-east of France, to which incalculable material damage should also be added. The images of the disaster transmitted by the main television new bulletins unleashed a wave of national solidarity, urged also by the main charitable […]

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social policies" "

Europe re-thinking "welfare"” “

The welfare State is a heritage of the whole of Europe, albeit in the various forms it has assumed in the various countries in the course of time. This heritage needs to be defended and promoted, if necessary “remodelled” to respond to the new needs and the available resources. This, in brief, is the “message […]

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Iraq: no of the Churches to a military intervention” “

The Christian Churches say no to any military attack against Iraq and appeal to Bagdad to respect the UN resolutions and permit the weapons inspectors to enter the country. Meeting in Geneva, the WCC’s central committee endorsed the joint letter written by the Churches of the USA, Canada and the United Kingdom to ask the […]

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An "historic" decision” “

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has decied to abandon its majority procedure and “progressively” adopt the “method of consensus” as a system for taking its own decisions. This is one of the most important innovations decided on by the WCC’s central committee, which met in Geneva from 25 August to 3 September, to respond […]

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The young are protagonists” “

Some fifty representatives of the episcopal conferences and the Christian Churches in Europe, from 26 different countries, met at Ottmaring to review the process of the reception of the Charta Oecumenica in the Churches, a year after its signing in Strasbourg. The exchange of experiences provided an occasion to assess the more important ecumenical initiatives […]

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Letter from Ottmaring” “

In this first year of life the Charta Oecumenica “has been widely and effectively used to stimulate and concentrate the efforts of dialogue between the Churches”. Now the European Christians look to the future, and especially to the “specific examples” that may be developed from the text with a view to its “implementation” in local […]

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